The Last Pikmin on the Distant Planet
by Golbolco
Summary: After the Koppaites leave PNF-404, a Pikmin Empire is forged. However, it collapses after years of prosperity. A young red Pikmin's home is raided by bandits, and he is forced into a post-imperial world full of creatures, warlords, and untold secrets. Rated T for violence towards bug-creature things, pikmin, and plants.
1. Chapter 1

After the Great Ones left for the third time, the Onion split itself up in the Garden of Hope. Using data files left behind by the Great Ones, the Pikmin began to build an empire that spanned miles. For many years this kingdom ruled, until civil war caught hold of the nation. A rift between the yellow and red Pikmin began to grow. The current Emperor, a red Pikmin, had overtaxed and oppressed the yellows. The concept of racism took hold in the yellow community against reds. For so long, they had been forced into the position of technicians and engineers, protecting the other Pikmin from the wild horrors. On one fateful night, during Autumn, the defenses in the capital city, Olim'a, fell.

First came the sheargrubs. They burrowed into homes, attacking families. The yellows took to weapons, crude spears or rocks, and attacked the militia. Bulborbs quickly followed, invading the city through the gates as no guards were left to watch them, too busy fighting yellow Pikmin. The automatic defense systems began to go off within the city, killing both civilians and attackers.

In the hours preceding morning, the barbaric purple Pikmin, white Pikmin slaves at their heels, invaded the city. Now, a four-way battle between beast, empire, rebels and barbarians had broken out in the Palace. It was said that the Emperor took to weapons himself and began fighting, but to no avail, as a purple Pikmin as fat as the third Great One slew him and took the crown. How unfortunate that he was quickly eaten by a Bulborb.

In the morning, the last of the Pikmin left the city, setting out to found their own kingdoms. The Yellows quickly founded their own kingdom, though it balkanized in recent years. The blues took to the water, forming their own trade empires. The Reds had put themselves into exile, their Onions now only used to haul things along on their nomadic journeys. The pink and grey Pikmin formed kingdoms on the surface, usually in old cities built by the empire. The purple Pikmin warlords took to the old capital, Olim'a, and corrupted it into their own capital.


	2. Chapter 2

In ancient times, during the Great One's rule, Pikmin genealogy was quite simple. Pikmin were born from an Onion, and all of those born of the Onion were Onion-Brothers and -Sisters. By the passing of the Great Ones, Onions no longer defined Pikmin family and culture. Now, using particular organs they had developed from a lack of the Onion, families could grow.

Upon a small pond, there was a shack. It actually wasn't so much a shack as it was a palisade with sticks as the roof and floor. Inside were two beds of leaves. A polished spear and armor hung upon the wall. Outside the shack, there was a small farm where berries were being grown. A young red Pikmin was sun basking in front of the farm. The young Pikmin's name was Bles, and he was of a lighter red. His body was slender and long, his stem ending in a bud. The familiar _pitter-patter_ of a bulborb's feet brought him to his senses. Looking around, he saw his Uncle and Aunt riding atop the family bulborb, Spot.

"We're back, Blez," called Uncle Olf, as he got off the bulborb.

"Did the merchants have anything good today?" Bles asked, getting to his feet.

Uncle Olf was a large Pikmin, of a maroon coloration. His nose was crooked, and his stem was fully grown, though his flower had certainly seen better days. He wore leather armor and carried a stone knife on him.

"Nah, just the usual potions and such," Olf said, "I swear, back when your Aunt and I were merchants, we sold real goods. Food, water, nectar, even old imperial junk!"

"Olf, dear, that 'imperial junk' you tried to sell wasn't anything but a crystal boot you carved out of a rock," Aunt Brit said.

"Hey, it could have passed for it," Olf explained, "Is dinner ready, Bles?"

"It should be," Bles went around the house and checked a small wooden board where some sheargrub meat was drying out on, then called out, "It's ready!"

The family went inside (not without leaving a piece of meat for Spot), and sat down in their beds. They finished their meal quickly. Olf pulled out a bottle of nectar and began to drink it. Nearing midnight, Olf was rambling on about the merchants, the Empire, and the kingdoms near by. Suddenly, he turned to Bles.

"You know what your dad's last words were to me, Bles?" He asked.

"What?" Bles asked, taken aback. They rarely discussed Bles' father.

"He told me, 'Look here, Olf. Take my armor 'n' my spear. It'll be worth more to you than me,'" Olf said, a noticable slur developing, "And then, a week after, you showed up. Now listen," Olf put an arm around his nephew, "I like you, but this farm life ain't for you. You gotta get out there and-"

"Olf!" Brit whispered warningly. Olf stood up, brandishing his knife, and walked towards the door. There was a peculiar thump.

"Who could that be at this hour?" Olf asked to nobody in particular. He swung the door wide open and stepped out. A moment later, Olf was speared to the wall.

Brit screamed and ran towards him, but the house began to come down around them. White Pikmin swarmed the house, attacking Brit. Thinking quickly, Bles grabbed the spear off the partially-collapsed wall and fended for himself. He saw a large carriage roll towards the house. A deep voice screamed out, "Kill them and grab anything valuable! I don't want anyone knowing what happened!" Bles stabbed into a row of white Pikmin and covered his nose, and felt himself knocked over. A large animal scooped him up into their mouth and began running. Spot had saved him, but who knew for how long? Spot jumped into the pond, out of the white Pikmins' grasp.


	3. Chapter 3

The Empire knew how to tame the wilds, and had done so. Many beasts were domesticated for work. One such creature was the Bulborb. Once a 2-legged, soft-bodied fanged beast, the Empire had bred particular Bulborbs for work. The Imperial Bulborb was more slender and had longer legs. Their eyes were closer to the body, which had developed thick skin. They had been bred to be smaller, only the height of two Pikmin stacked on each other. A small pair of arms had also developed.

One particular bulborb, Spot, was swimming away from a group of raiders, carrying a red Pikmin in it's mouth. As of now, Bles is one of the few Pikmin who can say he has survived being within a Bulborb's mouth. Reaching a small air pocket in the pond, Spot swam up into it, arriving at a cave. The bulborb relinquished Bles from his oral cavity and climbed up onto the shore. Bles curled up on the side of the cave, remaining very quiet.

"They're gone... Everything's gone..." He whispered. He sat there for a long time, for what felt like eons, until his pet let out a groan. Bles realized how silly he was being. Sure, he had lost his family, but as the old saying went, "Brothers may fall, but new ones always arise." Bles knew that the only thing he could do would be to travel and find a band of merchants to join. He took inventory of all his things: His spear, his clothes, a bottle of juice, his bulborb, and a few sticks. Hopping upon his bulborb, Bles headed deeper into the cavern.

The two traveled for a long time. The ride was very quiet, there was a noticeable lack of fauna in the cave. This could be a sign of civilization, Bles thought, or something much worse. Bles followed a light in the cave until reaching a large wall by the cave's entrance. In a tower next to the wall, a couple of grey Pikmin were keeping watch.

"Looks like we've got a visitor," one said, eyeing the bulborb, "you wanna handle this?" He asked to his fellow guard.

"Yeah, sure," the guard said, stepping out of the tower onto the wall, "Who goes there?" He called towards Bles.

"A traveler," Bles said, "I'm just looking to get through."

"Very well," the guard said, "and keep a handle on your pet." The guard pulled a lever, which opened the gate.

"Thank you kindly," Bles called out. He rode into the town of Geon. Geon was a town built by grey Pikmin after the fall of the Empire. For years, it remained a quiet town, the Kings never getting involved in the politics or wars of the land. Bles tied his bulborb down outside a tavern and walked in, looking for someone who could hire him. He ordered a cup of honey and sat down at a table, waiting to run into someone. A grey Pikmin walked up to the table.

"Mind if I sit here, friend?" He asked in a gruff voice.

"Sure," Bles said. The grey Pikmin sat down next to him and took a swig of bulborb milk.

"Where you from, kid? I haven't seen much like you since the merchants came into town," he asked.

"I'm not from around here. I'm just looking for someone to hire me," Bles said.

"Ah, a vagabond, perhaps? Interesting, very interesting..." The grey Pikmin was a short and round fellow, his thick skin nice and shiny. One eye was scarred, and his flower looked wilted.

"But where are my manners? The name's Stonn, and yours?"

"I'm Bles."

"Geon's a bit of a strange place to stop at for a red like you," Stonn said.

"It was the first place I saw. Besides, somebody's gotta be hiring, right?" Bles asked rhetorically.

"Right, right," Stonn said.

The two got on nicely for the next few hours. Stonn had told Bles about how he was looking for someone to guard him while he traveled north to a river where there was a prominent trade empire run by blue Pikmin.

"Yes, yes, it's a very nice place," Stonn explained, "well built, and everyone's friendly. I hear they just got a shipment of old imperial stuff. I'm a bit of a collector, you see."

"Oh really? I've always been interested in the Imperials myself, actually."

"Well, what do you say? Are you in?" Stonn asked.

Before Bles could answer, however, sirens began to sound. Stonn stood up and pulled out a sword.

"Someone's attackin' the city. That's our cue to get to the walls."


	4. Chapter 4

During the Empire's rule, the military structure was quite simple. It was not based on race or caste, but rather rank. At the bottom were the soldiers, simple grunts used in fighting and conquering. Then there were the captains, who led the soldiers. The commanders were in charge of the captains, planning battle. The generals were next, leading whole campaigns and theaters. They answered only to the Emperor, who would decide wars.

After the deterioration of the Empire, armies changed. Anyone could pledge to a King and fight for them. Most citizens would do that, turning countries into

Bles and Stonn rode towards the kingdom's front gate. Stonn led Bles to the top of the wall. Bles pulled out his spear and looked towards the oncoming army of white Pikmin, led by purple Pikmin. Bles recognized the army as the same that killed his family, and anger welled up inside of him.

"Those are the same Pikmin that attacked me," Bles said quietly.

"Just more reason to get rid of 'em," Stonn said.

"Archers ready," A voice called out, "Fire!"

A hail of stone arrows rained down upon white Pikmin. Soldiers ran into battle and attacked the slaves up front.

"We're just up here to make sure they don't actually get inside," Stonn said, "Just sit back and watch the fireworks."

It was harder to see the war than usual, actually, due to the cloud of poison rising from the corpses of white Pikmin. The purple Pikmin began launching balls of stone at the walls. The walls did not break very easily, however, until one launched a ball that hit another already lodged in the wall, collapsing the section that Stonn and Bles were standing on. Everything went black for Bles.

"Agghhh, my head..." Bles woke up to a moan from Stonn. They were being hauled off in a wooden cage, chained to the walls.

"Where are we, what happened?" Bles asked.

"No idea," Stonn said, "from the looks of it, we've been taken prisoner."

Bles looked out through the bars and saw the white army surrounding them, carrying dozens of cages full of prisoners.

"I'd say we lost, then?" Bles asked.

"Yep," Stonn said.

The army took their prisoners down into a cavern, where a war camp had been constructed. Stonn's eyes widened as they passed a group of white flowers.

"Ivory candycop buds!" Stonn whispered.

"What?"

"They're flowers that turn Pikmin into white Pikmin! That's how they amass their armies! And that's why they've taken us prisoner!" Stonn said wildly.

Stonn and Bles were taken and thrown into a prison cell. The prison cell's markings represented who was next to be enthralled. Stonn and Bles were #4, and watched with dread as the prisoners in #3 were taken off.


	5. Chapter 5

Candypop buds were outlawed in the time of the Empire, for in it's early days there were many criminals who would forcefully convert Pikmin to other colors. The taboo remained even after the fall of the Empire. However, barbaric purple Pikmin looking for ways to amass armies to not care about such taboos, and that's why Stonn and Bles have ended up in front of a candypop bud. They were guarded by two purple Pikmin, much taller than them.

"You first, shorty," said a purple to Bles. Bles stepped carefully towards the candypop bud. He did not, however, accept his fate, and flung around, grabbing one of the guards. He began wrestling with the huge warrior, while Stonn headbutted the other. Bles tripped the guard into the candypop, but was pulled in as well, the candypop grabbing his arm. He let out a scream of pain as his arm began to transform, and heard a ripping noise. As he pulled out his arm, he grabbed a leaf off the ground and wrapped it around the stub of his arm, weeping. Stonn crushed the other guard into the wall and then sat down to examine Bles' wound. It was bleeding "bugblood" profusely, even through the leaf. The arm had been severed at the elbow. Out of the candypop, a white bud was deployed. Stonn grabbed it, and smashed the white pikmin into the ground.

"Little bugger," Stonn said. He put an arm around Bles, "Come on, I know how to rig up a prosthetic."

Bles followed Stonn out, avoiding detection from the guards, sobbing softly. They hid behind a box as a guard passed, carrying Bles' spear.

"He's got my dad's spear!" Bles whispered. Not thinking, Bles tripped the guard and pulled him behind the box. Stonn grabbed the spear and stabbed him.

"I'll carry this for now," Stonn said. The two snuck back into the prison. It seemed that conversion of prisoners had ended for the day. Stonn snuck up behind the white pikmin guard, and killed him, grabbing the keys. Bles kept watch while Stonn unlocked each of the cells. The prisoners rushed out and into battle. Stonn got to work with a few sticks and leaves on Bles' arm. A yellow Pikmin stayed behind, examining the pair.

"What are you lookin' at?" Stonn asked.

"I've never seen two different Pikmin care for each other," the yellow said.

"Maybe that's because yellows are too busy killing everything else and sealing themselves off to actually look at the world," Bles said, taking his anger and pain out on the yellow.

"We're not like the purples, you know," the yellow said, taken aback.

"Yeah, the difference is that you're yellow," Bles said.

"Careful now, boy," Stonn said.

"I'll have you know that the yellows have been united for years, unlike you," she said.

"Oh really? There's proof right in front of you that that's not the case," Bles said, sitting up. Stonn had pulled some of Bles's sensory nerves and cartilage into the wooden framework. His arm worked rather well. He grabbed the spear and stood up.

"Look, my friend's gone under some trauma, he ain't thinking right. We need your help, with your race's expertise," Stonn said.

"With what?"

"With blowing this place up," Stonn said.

"It won't be easy. We'll have to go to the power room. see those lights up there?" She pointed up, "We'll need to follow the wires. From there, I'm going to overload the batteries, and we'll have some time to escape."

"Let's get going," Bles said.

The trio followed the lights until reaching an unguarded room. As they entered, the yellow gave a scream of horror.

The wiring had apparently run out, so it was replaced with yellow Pikmin bodies, mutilated and tied together towards the power box. Some were still alive, but unable to speak or move.

"Ignore it," Stonn said to her, "Get workin' on the box."

Bles and Stonn guarded the doorway, though no purples were in sight, likely trying to control the prison riot.

"It's ready," said the yellow, "we should have a few minutes. Let's go for the main exit."

The trio ran towards the cave exit, under fire of the army. A persistent buzzing noise grew louder and louder. Finally, it became too loud to bear. There was a huge zapping sound and the lights began to blow, being overloaded, frying every living thing in the cave. Stonn, Bles, and the yellow jumped off the edge of the exit, into a patch of grass as the cavern was destroyed.


	6. Chapter 6

Outside the borders of the Empire, many other kingdoms existed, but it was mostly just wilderness. Still, however, the land was mostly tame and safe for Pikmin to pass through.

The trio had set out on foot towards the blue kingdom that Stonn had set as their goal. Stonn had had the toughest job on this journey, acting as the navigator and the mediator between Bles and Vultai, the yellow Pikmin. The weather was getting colder, signifying the coming of Autumn. From the land, it was obvious that there were many scars of battle, still slow to heal. At a rather large lake, Stonn spotted a settlement across the river. There was a small boat and port for them to cross in. Upon arriving in town, it was nothing like Bles had ever seen; the town had an architecture very similar to the old Imperial cities, many columns of marble and statues of Great Ones. Bles, Vultai and Stonn decided to check out variant merchant stands. While Stonn was examining an old pair of bulborb boots, Bles approached Vultai.

"So, where do you plan on going after this?" Bles asked.

"I'll be heading on the journey my country set on me," Vultai said.

"And what's that?"

"Exploration of the land and study of the people," Vultai said, "we've lived in isolation for a few years."

"Well, you could come along with Stonn and I. We plan to see the world too, and we could use a technician."

"I'll consider it," Vultai said simply, and turned away to examine an imperial sword.

Bles was browsing through armor when a particular suit caught his eye.

"Where did you get that suit?" He asked the vendor.

"That? We stole it from a passing war band. What do you have for it?"

Bles did not have any money on him, or anything of real value but his arm.

"My arm," Bles said simply.

"Sold," the vendor said. Bles slipped into the armor and took off his mechanized arm, handing it to the vendor. He wondered how hard it would be to make a new one. Bles set off to buy parts to a better arm. As Bles sat in an ally building his new arm, Stonn and Vultai approached him, followed by a burly blue Pikmin.

"Hey Bles," Stonn said, "I got word that there's an old Imperial city nearby that nobody's raided yet. There could be something in there. I hired a tracker to get us there. This is Agu."

The blue held out a hand to shake Bles'. He took it in his new mechanical arm, build from metal, wood and stone.

"So, you agreed to come with us?" Bles asked Vultai.

"I don't have any plan on where to go, while you guys do, so yes."

And so, the four set off from the city, towards the wilds.


	7. Chapter 7

After the fall of the Empire, civilizations had two choices: Build themselves up in the wilderness, or move into old cities. For those nations that chose the former, one of the most difficult issues to deal with was the animals. As cities grew, they pushed the animals out of their natural habitat and into small spaces with other animals. As a result, the uninhabited zones were some of the most dangerous areas.

The quartet was sleeping one night, about two Pikmin miles outside of the Blue Kingdom. They had set up a temporary shelter. It was thundering outside, making insulation very valuable. The four pikmin took turns keeping watch every hour. Bles had taken for sixth shift and was feeling rather groggy. Outside of his line of vision, he saw images swimming back and forth, perhaps vegetation swaying. His mechanical arm held a death grip on his spear, while his normal arm slumped by his side. Occasionally, he'd hear a sound, like a twig snapping or the rustling of leaves, but it didn't matter. As his eyelids fell, terror struck. A wild bulborb smashed into the shelter and roared. Bles jolted awake and turns to the beast. He threw the spear into the eye, penetrating it through the back. It let out a scream of terror, and Vultai dived out of the way as it stomped around, smashing everything. Stonn wasn't so lucky.

"Stonn!" Bles screamed, diving for him. With his mechanical arm, he grabbed the stem and pulled Stonn upright, who looked fazed but uninjured.

"It's fine boy, it's fine! Kill the monster!" Stonn said.

Bles jumped onto the great beast's back, and stuck his needle-like nose into the hide of the bulborb, killing it. Agu climbed up and grabbed the spear, handing it back to Bles.

"We need to get moving," Agu said, "the skirmish could have attracted more creatures."

The group set off in the middle of the night. The journey was quiet, nobody daring to even whisper. The group found a small cave and decided to sleep in it.

By morning, the rain had cleared. The group walked for a mile through the lush wilderness before meeting a red caravan. Red caravans were some of the greatest means of protection, trade, and transportation. The red Pikmin were honorable, and would take in any traveler that was trustworthy. They had kept their Onions for years, which had lost their reproductive means and instead had become fat and bloated, used as living quarters and storage space. This particular Onion had wooden wheels installed on the sides, looked like a red pumpkin, and was hauled by a bulborb.

"Hello," Bles said to the leader of the merchant band as he got off the back of the bulborb, "we're travelers looking to get to Flotsam, how far are you going?"

"Flotsam? that old Imperial city? It's on our trade route, sure. Hop in the Onion," the merchant said.

As the group crawled inside of the Onion, Vultai looking apprehensive, Bles immediately noted the surroundings as familiar. In his childhood, Uncle Olf and Aunt Brit had owned an Onion caravan. Bles was used to riding in the Onion all the time. He noticed Vultai looking unhappy.

"What's your problem?" He asked.

"It's a lot different from what the records say," Vultai said, "I thought the reds all lived in squalor, but this is not the case." She noted the variety of goods placed around the Onion.

"It's four miles to Flotsam," Agu said, "It's been untouched since Imperial days. They were big on defense, but I figure a yellow and a red can get us out of any technical issue."

"I think we should discuss pay," Stonn said.

"I don't need anything," Vultai said.

"You do if you're travelling the world for record-keeping," Bles interjected.

"I'd say it's only fair if each of us gets a fifth of the cut, while Stonn gets two fifths, since he arranged this," Agu said.

"Agreed!" Stonn said happily.


	8. Chapter 8

The cities of the Empire were built full of defenses. Large monsters roamed underground tunnels, making subterranean invasion dangerous. To keep these creatures from attacking the city itself, traps were set up in every corridor, de-activated when needed. Furthermore, legions of guards were lined atop the walls, making a conventional invasion life-consuming and with no guarantee of even getting inside.

The quartet was dropped off by an old village that had begun to collapse. Stonn told them not to even bother scavenging, because the citizens would have brought all their things with them when they left. Agu led the trek west to reach the fortress. The stone walls had gone under little decay, which pleased Stonn. The wooden gates had not gone under rot, however, and there were no holes to penetrate the fortress with.

"We could try pushing the gates open," Bles suggested.

"No, that'll never work," Stonn said, "They're controlled by mechanisms. We'll need some vines to climb over with."

Bles and Vultai looked around until they saw a rather tall tree. There was a small but long vine by the bottom of the stump, which Bles severed with his nose. He handed it to Vultai and they trekked back. Agu took the vine and threw it over with all his might, lassoing a small outcropping of stone at the top. As they climbed up, Bles asked Stonn if any invading army had ever tried this.

"Probably, but they would have realized it was a mistake after the guards severed the vine."

When they climbed to the top of the wall, the fortress was like a paradise. Huge towns, markets and fountains dotted the land, while in the center, there was a giant castle.

"That," Stonn gestured to the castle, "is our goal."

The group took the stairway down. Bles wondered when they would run into traps. As they wandered through a small town, each Pikmin plundering a house, Vultai came running into a house that Bles was raiding, followed by Stonn and Agu, who looked confused.

"Shhh!" She said. Bles did not know why at first, but then he figured that she was listening to something with her ears. Soon enough, he heard it. Troops were patrolling the town. Bles peered out the window into the soulless red eyes of a white Pikmin, followed by their brethren.

"Damn!" Stonn whispered, "We've been beat to it!"

The door was kicked open.


	9. Chapter 9

The traps of the ancient cities were almost always guaranteed to kill the invaders, no matter what type of Pikmin. The ultimate trap would be a crusher, followed by gassing the room with poison, lighting the poison aflame with electricity, flooding the room, and finally letting in a large beast to eat the Pikmin's remains. However, not every trap was this complex. Due to the unlikeliness of an invasion by grey Pikmin or red Pikmin, there were usually crushers or flamethrowers. Beasts were also kept in chambers adjacent to killing chambers, in case of greys or reds.

As the white Pikmin invaded the room, Bles tried to run. He smashed a window and jumped out into the alleyway. However, he did not expect the ground to start moving under him. Vultai and Agu followed him, but quickly realized their mistake. Two white Pikmin were clinging to Stonn's legs as he jumped.

"It's a trap! Dammit!" Stonn said, beating a white Pikmin into the ground.

"We might get lucky. I'm sure we could take down a bulborb," said Bles.

As Bles said this, there was a creaking noise. The whole house, after years of rot, collapsed into the chamber they were descending into, bringing down their platform. Most of the white Pikmin had died on impact, so there was no worry there. Agu looked around the chamber.

"There's flamethrowers," he said, "everyone grab a piece of rubble to hide beneath."

Bles stood there, not fazed by flamethrowers. He looked at the circular metal holes in the walls, guessing them to be the flamethrowers. After five minutes of waiting, Bles examined one of the holes.

"Looks like the mechanisms are wrecked!" Bles said, "it's clear!"

The rest of the group came out of hiding. They waited for the doors to the beast chamber to lift up. They did accordingly, but the chamber was full of horrors. A dozen inbred, misshapen Imperial bulborbs, created out of hundreds of years of isolation. The creatures, obviously starved, lunged for the group. Stonn crushed a small one as Bles poked out the single eye of another. Vultai and Agu took down two more. Stonn was doing the best, as the bulborbs' fragile bodies collapsed under his immense strength. As the bulborbs were defeated, Stonn and Vultai examined a hole in the top.

"Looks like some kind of feeding tube," Stonn said, "we might be able to climb up it."

As the Pikmin stacked up to climb, Bles heading towards the stack to join them, he was pounced on by a white Pikmin that had survived the destruction of the house. Bles threw him off and whacked the white with his stem. The white retaliated by biting Bles. Bles let out a howl of pain and smashed the white into the wall, but did not kill it. He held the white Pikmin by the stem in his mechanical arm.

"What are you doing here?" Bles interrogated.

"Serving Lord Glat, red scum."

"And who's Lord Glat?"

"The finest warlord on this side of the region, of course," the white sneered.

"Lead us to him, or face the consequences."

"I would rather die than give up my master!" Screeched the white pikmin. Bles snapped his stem with his arm. The group climbed up into the piping, into the unknown.


	10. Chapter 10

The castles of cities were, surprisingly, some of the most undefended areas in the city, other than the most elite guards standing by the gates and atop the walls. This was due to the idea that nobody could ever make it through the first defenses. Unless, as history teaches us, you have traitors within the city, and those traitors happen to be those in charge of the trap mechanisms.

The group quietly made their way towards the center of the city, where the castle was located. Avoiding troops was becoming increasingly harder, as they seemed to have congregated themselves at the center. Finally, they reached the wall of the castle.

"There's no way in without smashing a few things," Stonn said, examining the wall, "We're going to need bomb rocks."

"Where will we get them?" Bles asked.

"Vultai's going to go get them," Stonn explained. Vultai looked aghast.

"You want _me_ to go find bomb rocks while we're being hunted by whites?!"

"We'll send Agu with you, don't worry," Stonn said, "we'll need two anyways."

Vultai set off grudgingly with Agu. Stonn explained the plan to Bles.

"Alright, so if we blow a chunk in the wall, it'll make them all approach the scene of the crime, where we'll be. With two bomb rocks, however, the guards will have to check out both areas, cutting their soldiers in half."

"And what about us?"

"We enter the castle, steal some treasure, and get out of here."

"Sounds like a plan," bles said, as Agu and Vultai came back. They set off the bomb rocks and climbed into one of the holes. Bles set off towards a small guest room and hid there.

The castle rooms were built very well and had not decayed over time, due to lack of exposure to the elements. Bles' room had a nice painting of an ancient battle, a queen-sized bed, a window, and a writing desk. Bles sat down on the bed, which was quite soft. The door opened, and Stonn walked in.

"The guards are properly distracted, Agu found a map of the place. They're keeping the treasure in the old wine cellar."

The wine cellar was accessed by the kitchen, which was on the main floor. Bles and Stonn snuck down onto the main floor, passed the throne room, and entered the kitchen. Guards were standing by, so Bles speared a few while Stonn killed another. Stonn took a steak knife as his weapon from off the counter. Agu and Vultai entered after Bles and Stonn had cleared the room, looking perturbed.

"We got caught by guards," Vultai said, "they know we're inside!"

"Grab all the stuff you can from the cellar and let's get out of here," Bles said.

After each member nabbed their amount of stuff, the group quietly set off. They decided to eavesdrop on the warlord's speech as they exited. Bles did not pay much attention, but as Stonn looked at the king he stopped in his tracks, making Bles trip and Vultai crash atop him, making a loud bang.

"Shhh!" Stonn hissed, pointing at the warlord, who did not care for the sound, "he's got an Imperial Crown! We've got to grab that!"

"How are we going to get that?" Agu asked.

As it turns out, setting fire to the kitchen is a very good way of distracting a warlord from his speech.


	11. Chapter 11

"So here's the plan: Bles will enter the kitchen and set fire to it, distracting the guards as they try to save the treasure and the food. Vultai will then distract any other guards left by the warlord. Then, Agu and I will approach and kill the king, take his crown, and leave the castle. Got it?"

The rest of the party looked at Stonn quizzically.

Bles did as he was told and entered the kitchen. He looked around the room and found an oven. He took a large amount of wooden objects from around the room and dumped them into it, then set fire to the fuel. Objects aflame began to pour from the oven's maw, setting counters and barrels on fire. One barrel of ale blew up, but as Bles was fire-resistant, he did not so much as flinch. After he was sure guards were coming, he slinked out of the kitchen.

As much of the army the warlord was addressing left to quench the fire, Vultai appeared in the throne room, brandishing a sword. She ran around the room, getting guards to chase after her, until running into the hall and meeting up with Bles. The two quickly killed the whites.

Agu and Stonn jumped into the throne room, running at full speed at the warlord. He flinched as Agu stabbed him and Stonn crushed his remains, claiming the crown. The fire began to spread to the rest of the building, however, and trapped the group.

"We're done for, you over-sized boulder!" Vultai screamed at Stonn. Bles was actively trying to knock down the doors, but to no avail. Finally, his stem pushed through the caramelizing wood. He let out a yelp of joy and pain as his stem was pulled through the door and onto the ground. Stonn, Vultai, and Agu followed, and were accordingly apprehended by Bles's attackers. Bles looked up from the dirt and saw what he thought to be a grey Pikmin, but it was worse. It was certainly a Pikmin of some sort, but it's body was encased in some kind of metal or crystal. It peered out of it's dark eye slits at the group. Behind the Pikmin stood an army of whites, dressed in similar armor.

"You, stand up," the Pikmin said in a low, menacing voice to Bles.


	12. Chapter 12

Even during the times of the Empire, purple Pikmin and their white thralls ruled, but in a different way. They ruled underground, in subterranean tribes. The white Pikmin could be bred or converted from other Pikmin that were unfortunate enough to wander into the nest of a tribe. Purples were the elite, and each purple Pikmin had at least three whites to their name.

Bles, Stonn, Agu and Vultai were escorted into a large carriage. The Pikmin in armor had them sit down by his table.

"So," the armored Pikmin said, "you four have quite the resume, huh? Outrunning a purple war camp, sieging a purple city."

"Well," Stonn said, "we were held against our will at the camp."

"And we only knew that purples were here after we got here," Agu said.

"Nevertheless, though, you blew up a war camp and set fire to an Imperial castle. What _is_ your story?"

Stonn and Bles explained everything that had happened, with Vultai and Agu filling in the details.

"Quite the story," the Pikmin said, "you four go take a rest. In the morning, I'll meet you again."

The four of them went to bed in the carriage. In the morning, Bles stepped out of the carriage to find the whole white army surrounding it, with the armored Pikmin at the center. Stonn and the other two followed Bles out.

"Now then," the armored Pikmin said, "prepare to die."

The armored Pikmin pressed a button on his wrist and the armor began to peel back. Bles barely got a glimpse at what he believed to be a malformed stem when there was an explosion. Quickly, the armor jumped back up. In another language, the armored Pikmin began barking orders at the army. Agu punched out a guard and the four of them jumped into the carriage. Killing the driver, Stonn took the reins and began pushing through the army. From what Bles could tell, the army had been assaulted by pink Pikmin flying in at all sides. Stonn rode the carriage out into the deep wilds for many hours until nightfall.

"What the hell was he trying to accomplish?" Bles asked.

"I'm not sure, but there's something worse," Agu said, pulling out a map from his pocket and placing it on the table, "we've left the known region."

The map was labeled in a strange language, with notes pointing to certain areas. It was transcribed in some areas unlabeled in others.

"The last settlement before the wilds was Apiorn," Agu said, pointing to an X on the map, "outside of there, we passed through Ynfernu's Gate and into the Outback."

"The Outback?" Stonn gasped, listening in from the front of the carriage, "we'll be dead! Nobody's been there since the Ancients wrote of the land! There's no Pikmin there for miles until we get past the Mountains of Madness and into the Tropical Wilds, and still there's barely any settlements!"

"We can't turn back now, though," Vultai said, "we'll have more than half of all warlords after us."

"We don't have many options," Bles said, "Let's just stay in this forest for the night."

* * *

**AN: **Yay, first author's note! Anyways, I'm getting to the inevitable point where I wonder if I should include things not strictly involved in the games (new creatures, Pikmin, hazards, etc.). What do you guys think?


	13. Chapter 13

The main expansion of old Imperial and Tribal zones was in a large, walled-off forest zone, with savannas, deserts and rain forests bordering it. Even further out were Ancient Lands, forbidden by all Pikmin from entry. It was said that far west was a land called the Tropical Wilds by the Great Ones. No definitive coastlines were known, though Great One texts spoke of them.

The Pikmin were unsure of which direction to travel in. In the morning, they rode west, knowing that in time, they'd reach a land called the Tropical Wilds, albeit they were unaware of how long that would take them. Bles was on top of the carriage, looking over the savanna. The grass was not tall enough to cloak the carriage, but it was certainly very high. Bles noted a lack of animals within the grass. Perhaps the carriage was scaring them away? Bles could see trees in the distance, towering over the grass. Down below, Vultai and Agu were playing cards, while Stonn still steered the carriage. The carriage came to a stop at a watering hole. Bles sat by the coast while Agu went for a swim. Stonn was filling up canteens for their journey.

"So, any ideas where we are?" Bles asked Vultai.

"Agu says we're in the Great Savanna, but he's not sure where, and we don't have a compass."

"Any idea about civilization?"

"There's no signs of it around here. I think we're the only Pikmin who have been here for years, maybe we're even the first."

Bles was about to reply when there was an ominous thump. Agu came to shore and looked around worriedly.

"What was that?" Bles asked.

"Something's coming." Another thump.

"Quick, get to the carriage!" Yelled Stonn. Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Crash.

A huge shadow loomed over them for a split second. A huge creature was hopping over them, it's feet like flat stones, it's head pointed and high up. The body was huge, bigger than anything back in the known region. It's tail was as long as four carriages. Agu and Vultai began running towards the carriage. The bulborbs were whining, fearing the large beast. Bles hadn't even begun moving towards the carriage when he realized that there were more of these behemoths, traveling in a herd. Bles lunged for the carriage as the bulborbs began to run. He barely grabbed the door handle. Every few seconds, their carriage was shadowed by these monsters. Bles wasn't sure they noticed the carriage, as they kept hopping along.

SMASH.

The carriage was split in two. The bulborbs had been crushed, and the back end was collapsing. Bles looked up from the wreckage in search of his friends. Agu and Vultai had survived, but Stonn was in the other half. Without thinking, Bles ran towards the wreck and began digging. He found a large piece of rock as he dug. Had the beasts penetrated the impervious hide of the grey Pikmin? Bles reached around before grabbing a stem. He pulled until it was free of the rubble. Stonn was still attached to it, but his shell was in ruins. Under the grey Pikmin's shell was a grey body much like a Pikmin. The shell hung on in certain spots, fractured in others. Stonn's eyes were closed, but he was certainly alive. Bles looked up at the sky. No more of the beasts were approaching, but the sun was beginning to set. He dragged Stonn into the other half of the carriage. The group pulled up a ripped rug and wrapped themselves in it, going to sleep. Stonn had been placed on a table so his body would not fracture anymore. The day had been too long and the group had taken their worst hit through all of their travels.


	14. Chapter 14

Many large beasts roamed in non-imperial lands. These places were considered deadly, and no Pikmin had ever returned from them, except in rare cases. It was said that there may be some fortresses and enclaves out in the wilds, but it was extremely unlikely. No pikmin would want to live out there year-round anyways. Bles woke up. Looking around, he saw that they were in the same smashed carriage they had fallen asleep in. Agu and Vultai were still asleep, along with Stonn. Bles crawled out of the blanket and over to Stonn. The limbs of a rock pikmin were evidently very long, as Stonn's legs and one arm were uncovered. The eye of Stonn interested him more. It appeared that the eyes on the shell of rock pikmin were just shells, as Stonn's uncovered eyelid rested atop his eye. Bles wondered if there was some sort of magnification with those shells, or if the sight of a rock pikmin was very impaired. Bles climbed up the ladder in the back of the room and sat down on what was left of the roof. In the distance, he saw more of the beasts, but they were not approaching. Instead, they drank from a huge sea. The beasts were bigger than mountains, their snouts pointed, with eyes bigger than ten pikmin. They had large ears, bigger than any leaf that ever clung to a tree. They were furry, their hair colored like nectar. They had powerful legs and tails, and small, useless-looking arms hanging by their sides. One specimen of the creatures appeared to have two heads, which surprised Bles very much - until he realized that it was just a younger creature in a pouch. Did they carry their young inside of them? What an odd creature! Bles called them Behemoth Jumpers, named after their size and their jumping abilities. "You watching the creatures?" A raspy, unfamiliar voice spoke. Bles almost jumped, and turned around to face Stonn. His voice, usually muffled and deep due to being covered by rock, was now loud and raspy, and Bles thought he had a slight lisp. "Oh, it's you. I didn't recognize you by your voice," Bles apologized, "yes, they're rather marvelous - look at the sheer size! They're bigger than any living creature I've ever seen!" "Aye. We don't get behemoths like them back in the Garden of Hope. We should head towards them." "Head towards them?! Are you crazy? Look at what they did to you!" "It's fine, these shells grow back," Stonn reassured Bles, "besides, it's possible that we won't get crushed if we hunker down in the dirt. And it's not like we'll startle them! They'll never know we're there! Go wake up the other two." Bles did as he was told. He found Vultai gathering everything of value from the carriage, and Agu collecting meat from the crushed steeds. He told them that they were to head towards the Behemoth Jumpers. "Why? What does that shell of a pikmin want us to do now?!" Vultai asked. "I don't know, but he's a great adventurer, and more pikmin than you!" Bles told her. "Oh really? Thanks to him, the four of us are dead! My people will never get any information of the outside world! They'll all crawl to the surface, and be whisked away by people like you!" "Like they need to come up to the surface anyways! If they're lucky, a purple will have his hordes drop bomb rocks down your hive!" Vultai looked aghast. She stormed off. Agu approached Bles from behind. "You've upset her." "Yeah, doesn't matter." "Of course it matters. All things prove useful in the end." "What use could she serve us?" "We could eat her." "That's disgusting!" Bles walked off. After the group had gotten back together, Stonn led them through the tall grass towards the Behemoth Jumpers. Finally, they were under their massive shadows, making Bles feel like it was night. Stonn and Agu surveyed the coastline, while Vultai sat down and drew diagrams of the Behemoth Jumpers. Bles approached her. "They don't have two heads. That's a baby," Bles pointed out to her. "Go away." "Look, I'm sorry for being like that, back by the carriage." "I'm sorry for insulting Stonn. That was out of line." Bles and Vultai sat there, sketching out pictures of the Behemoth Jumpers. As the sun began to set, Stonn approached. "There's something on the other side of the lake. We think it might be a settlement. Come help us build a raft." The group put together a raft using twigs, and tied it together using the grass. There was a huge tremor as the Behemoth Jumpers hopped off. And as evening became night, the group set out into the water. 


	15. Chapter 15

In the Empire, not many traveled by water, even when it was the easiest route. as such, technology in the seafaring industry did not progress past lily pads, rafts, and small wooden boats. Blue Pikmin, however, did make multiple attempts at submarines, though not many worked. As such, the art of traveling by boat was uncommon, and building them even less.

As they set their raft afloat, Bles noted that it was rather unstable, with the grass already coming apart in places. Agu was pushing the raft out onto the lake, and then jump aboard. As they hit the water, the twigs used as flooring began to shake warningly. When Agu jumped on, his leg became caught between two pieces of flooring. After they pulled him out, Stonn and Vultai took to rafts and began paddling towards the settlement. The moon was directly above them as they were halfway through. Every hour, Agu and Bles would switch with Stonn and Vultai. By the time they had reached shore, Bles was half-asleep. The settlement Stonn claimed to have spotted was a fortress made of dirt and mud, much like a termite mound. There was a wooden drawbridge at the front that was raised. Stonn knocked on the drawbridge. It lowered, though what laid within did not please any member of the group. The stench of rotten corpses wafted out of the mound. A purple pikmin lay slumped against the doorway, his arm ripped off. As they went deeper into the fortress, it only got worse. The population was made up of purple pikmin, and they kept sheargrubs as pets. Not one purple pikmin had stopped to introduce themselves or talk to the group, just rushing by with an odd assortment of items, muttering about somebody called the Overseer.

"I knew purples were bad," Stonn whispered to Bles as they walked past a pikmin being operated on atop a rather dirty table, "But this is disgusting!"

"You there!" A voice called to the group. A pikmin with an eyepatch and a battleaxe approached them, "You, one-arm, down to the kitchens with you. Blue, Big-ears, go down to the mines, we've hit a cavern. And you," he motioned disgustedly to Stonn, "Get down to the hospital! You're a mess!"

"What? You can't order us around!" Bles said.

"I'm not. Orders are from the Overseer."

"Who's the Overseer? We're not even from here, we just need a place to stay!"

But the eye-patched Pikmin did not listen. He walked off, talking to himself about engravings and breweries. The Pikmin decided to split up and go to where they were ordered to go. Down in the kitchens, Bles had seen the most disgusting thing imaginable. There were rotten bodies of animals strewn all over the floors. The stoves would continuously catch things on fire, sometimes Pikmin. Bles was, of course, fire-resistant, but his nose had no resistance to picking up the smell of burning pikmin. The brewery was the only place kept clean, but that may have been because it was such a dangerous machine everybody steered clear of it. You were to only take fruits, vegetables, or whatever else they were looking to brew, and put them in a chute that led to the brewery. From another chute came the ale that was produced. The fishery, if you could call it that, was a large table covered in the skins of marine creatures picked up by the lake. The fishery stunk so badly that when a flaming pikmin collapsed on to it and destroyed the rotting mess, the other pikmin cheered. The small amounts of food that did survive, however, were brought to a stockpile. Bles was the replacement stockpile runner, as the last one had reportedly thrown a tantrum, and killed three soldiers before dying of thirst. Bles ran down to the stockpile carrying a below-average slice of bulborb meat. The fortress was arranged in a descending order, though there were many floors that were simply called slums. The stockpiles were arranged in no particular order, though each had a sign hanging over the stairwell labeling what they kept in there. Entering the food stockpile, Bles set down the food, but heard a noise from behind him. A white pikmin - no, a pallid pikmin, appeared. It's red eyes were sunken into it's head. The skin was broken in many areas. It was almost zombie-like, but Bles was sure that it was alive. It darted for the food Bles had left, but Bles heard a thundering sound. Purple pikmin soldiers thundered into the room. They grabbed the white pikmin, and Bles did not watch what they did to it, but there was a distinct tearing sound and a raspy plead for no more. Bles went back to the kitchens and slumped in a corner, terrified by his first encounter with the squalid thieves and the murderous military of the fort.

Agu and Vultai were sent into a cavern that miners had uncovered. The walls and floor were covered in moss and gems. Many creatures scuttled around in the dark, the military killing them when needed. Agu was examining a pool of water when a large tentacle rose out of the water. It reached towards him, but a soldier cleaved through the tentacle. As the rest of the creature began to crawl out, severely agitated, Agu jumped back. Vultai could feel the ground shake under her as the tentacled horror fought with the soldiers. As she began to move towards Agu, something grabbed her by the ear and pulled her down a tunnel. Agu watched and grabbed hold of the pickaxe she had been holding. He began to pull her up, and at one point the creature did relinquish her, but as she was pulled back to safety another, larger creature grabbed her by the leg and snapped the bone. She screamed out in pain and watched as Agu fought the beast. After killing it, Agu carried Vultai up through the mines, ignoring orders that had apparently come from the "Overseer".

Stonn was in the medical ward, though he believed that the doctors could do nothing to fix his shell. Stonn knew that rock pikmin would regrow their shell over a random period. In fact, Stonn felt a hard coating on his grey skin already. The medical ward was hideous: There were no actually trained doctors, but there were no bodies strewn everywhere. There was only patients left in beds and tables untended to. Stonn found the doctors all huddled around a patient who had been impaled through the chest. The doctors were arguing whether to patch up the wound, install a breastplate that would hold on through the wound, or install a chest-mounted cannon. Stonn was displeased to find out that the doctors were much more interested in possible augments than actually healing the patient. One doctor even suggested inserting artificial bones to get an extra arm to grow from the wound. Stonn looked to see if the patient was awake, but he had been knocked asleep through the use of ale. He heard the medical ward's door open and decided to check who was arriving. To his surprise, Agu walked in, carrying Vultai.

"What happened to you?" Stonn asked.

"Her leg's broken," Agu said. He laid her down on an open table.

"Go get Bles, he's in the kitchens. I'll take a look at it."

Agu did as he was told and Stonn grabbed a wet towel. "Bite this," he told her, and began performing surgery on her leg. He cut through the flesh very carefully, and found her leg bone snapped in two. Taking some gauze, he carefully bound the two bone pieces and sowed her leg back up.

"That should hold it for now," he told Vultai, who was in too much pain to pay attention. After Agu and Bles came back, Stonn led them to a vacant bedroom, where they would stay. The group interchanged their stories about the horrors of the fortress. The group reached a single decision: Get out of the Fortress by morning.


	16. Chapter 16

The Empire had continuously made attempts at colonizing the Great Savanna, but most colonies fell to strife, famine, or unknown creatures. By the time of the Empire's fall, there were only four colonies left, and they did not have direct contact with two. These colonies, however, did not have large populations of purple pikmin, and when the purple pikmin laid waste to the Empire, they had no interest in colonization. Bles was sitting upwards on the hard stone floor. He was looking around the room that he and his friends had taken. The walls were rough stone with odd carvings of what Bles could only assume were historical events on the walls. There was a chest made of wood, a cabinet carved from stone, and a mattress. Agu and Stonn were sleeping on the mattress, while Vultai was resting her leg. Bles stood up and looked in the chest. There was nothing in it but a few trinkets and a backpack. Bles took the backpack and the trinkets: A stone mug, a clay idol, and a wooden knife. In the cabinet, there was a blank journal and a pikmin bone bow and arrows. Though Bles was horrified when he realized what the bow was made of, he took the items anyways. Agu woke up and walked over to the door, opened it, and looked around the hall. The dormitories were the cleanest place the group had found so far. Most of the rooms were empty anyways, people would come and go from each. Knowing that nobody would stop them, the group clambered their way through the hall (Vultai using a crutch they had put together last night). Agu lowered the drawbridge, but as Bles made his first step out, someone began shouting. "CLOSE THE BRIDGE! CLOSE THE BRIDGE!" A soldier shouted. Bles looked back into the hallway at the soldiers. They all had horrified looks on their faces. Bles looked forward and saw horrifying monsters jumping out from the tall grass. They looked like Pikmin, or perhaps they were Pikmin at one point. Their skin was a rotten reddish color, and each had a gaping maw. They had claws like sickles, and their eyes were yellow and bloodshot. Bles stumbled backwards when the bridge began to rise, flinging him up on to the wall. Bles looked down at the creatures shredding through each other just to try and get inside. Bles heard a growl behind him, and his mechanical arm was wrenched backwards by one of the beasts. Bles took his spear and jabbed it into the chest of the creature. It gave off a scream, but successfully pulled off his arm. Without thinking, the remnants of his living arm reached out and grasped the neck of the monster, suffocating it. Suddenly, he heard a sickening squish sound, and turned around. The drawbridge was dropped atop a group of the creatures. The monsters that had survived rushed inwards, meeting purple pikmin soldiers. However, by the looks of it, they were losing. Many of the pikmin soldiers were being ripped to shreds, and others were fleeing battle. When the last of the creatures had been slain, Bles looked at the carnage, and then to the soldiers. "There's a grey pikmin with a shattered shell, a tall blue pikmin, and a yellow pikmin on a crutch. Where are they?" He asked. "Beats us, but if you find them, send 'em to the quarantine. A lot of us are heading down there now," he added sadly. "The quarantine? Why?" "When the Pikspawn bite you, you turn into one of them after a few months. I recognize a few of these poor souls," he said, pointing towards the bodies of some of the Pikspawn. Bles rushed past the soldiers and down the stairwell, until reaching the quarantine. He ran down the halls and followed the sound of faint sobbing. He found Stonn and Vultai sitting by a cell. Vultai had tears running down her face and Stonn was comforting her. "Agu... He was bitten, wasn't he?" Vultai pointed solemnly towards the cell next to her. Bles looked within. Agu was sitting alone, staring at the wall. "He told us to run when we heard them. The doctors brought him down. They say he'll need to stay here for months before the tests are conclusive," Vultai said quietly. "There's no cure. We either stay for a few months or leave him to his fate," Stonn said. "Stonn, come with me to the workshops. Vultai, I want you to get as much information on this pikspawn thing as possible. If needed," he dropped his voice to a whisper, "we'll break him out and run for it. Chances are, some backwater fort's got a cure or treatment for this." Stonn and Bles went to the workshops. The purple pikmin had very large pride invested into their workspaces. Bles sat down and Stonn began gathering up items. "Basically," Bles said, "I want a new arm. One that won't get ripped off by some rabid pikmin." "Got it," Stonn said. First, Stonn took a piece of curved metal and a strip of leather. He tied the leather to the metal, creating a sort of pauldron. Sliding it onto the arm of Bles, he took some thread and tied it to the armor of Bles' father. Then, he took a piece of bamboo, and cut it in two. He took one and slid it up against the pauldron, then tied them together. Taking a few gears and pieces of plate metal, he then built a cowter and installed it onto the rerebrace of bamboo. Taking the other piece of bamboo, he made a vambrace of it, and installed it onto the cowter. Then, he took a leather gauntlet, a large articulated metal ring, and attached it to the end of the hand. Bles tested out his new and improved arm. "This is good," Bles said, "how come you went into treasure hunting instead of engineering or the medical area?" "You get more money in treasure hunting," Stonn said, "So what's the next plan?" "We're breaking Agu out if the tests don't come back soon, and we'll head for the hills." "And then what? These plains are filled with menacing mutants. We don't even know if there's another settlement." "But there is," Bles said, "Not all of those pikspawn looked like they used to be purples. And down in the food stockpile, I met a white pikmin." "You better hope we can find the white pikmin before the pikspawn can find us, then," Stonn said, "Or worse." 


	17. Chapter 17

The pikspawn virus was a powerful infection that affected Pikmin. The symptoms were an animal mentality, a rotting skin, a huge maw, sickle-like claws, bloodshot and yellow eyes, and in some advanced cases, a second, vertical maw would form on the chest out of the ribcage.

Bles and Stonn went to the quarantine. There, Vultai was standing, looking visibly shaken.

"The doctors say that the final stage of the transformation will be a fever, which could happen from a few hours or a few months after the bite," she told them, "and they also say that the rate of transform cases is unknown, but it ranges from 10% to 100%."

"Go check what keeps these doors locked. Stonn, you and me will head to the dining hall."

Stonn nodded to the best of his ability, seeing as half of his neck was buried in shell, and the other half was coated in an unarticulated sheen. Up at the dining hall, Bles sat next to two chatting pikmin, who were becoming steadily intoxicated.

"...I told you, the Colony's pissed. They said we disrespected them or whatever and we can expect that we'll be getting an angry letter, or somthin'."

"So what did you tell the caravan?"

"I killed a few. They were hurting my eyes anyways, they're so damn bright."

"You killed them? Did any escape?"

"Just a couple - quit looking so scared, they're too stupid to hold a real siege."

"When do you think they'll hit?"

"Tomorrow, but they'll probably run right into the spawn and get eaten alive."

"Hey, you know, my buddy in the medical ward says one came down to bother them about the spawn. Maybe we could hold them hostage?"

"And ask for what? They don't make anything nice to offer us."

At this point, Bles intervened. "You touch the Yellow, you have to deal with me."

"What, are you some kind of sympathizer?" One asked.

"No, but if you attack my friends, I'll fight back. Leave us out of your wars."

"Since when did a red, a grey, a blue and a yellow show up here anyways?" The other asked, "They haven't been seen at this fortress for about twenty or thirty years."

"You mean other than the caravans, right?" The first asked. "Well, if we're going by that definition, yes. Of course, we're talkin' breeds, not skin tones. I've seen some pretty blue purples and such before."

"Aye, my uncle's got a big of a magenta to him."

The two continued their conversation, but Bles tuned them out. He turned to Stonn.

"Apparently, there's going to be a siege from some other Pikmin tomorrow. Go get Vultai and ask her about what she's found out. Get Agu out tonight, and meet me up by the front gate."

"Tonight? I doubt she's got it figured out already."

"Just get him out, I don't care how!" Bles and Stonn got up and left the hall. Stonn was heading down to the quarantine. In the quarantine, he walked over to Vultai.

"So how do we get these doors open?" Stonn asked.

"Well, there's a master control system a few floors down. It's hooked up to every door, bridge, trap, and machine in the fort."

"Bring us to it."

The master control room was really just a wall coated in levers. The problem was, none were labeled. Vultai told Stonn that the Overseer had a list of what the levers do in their office, but nobody would tell Vultai where the office was. The only lever labeled was simply labeled "ALL".

"If we pull that ALL switch, it'll open everything," Stonn said, "but we'll have to deal with whatever else we unleash."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Vultai said.

"It's really not," Stonn told her, "Remember, there's probably infected down in the quarantine, and there's probably pikspawn, too."

"They might just leave and attack the military," Vultai suggested.

"Well, it's worth a shot, but I have a feeling we'll be causing more chaos than we hoped for."

Stonn grabbed the ALL lever and gave a mighty pull. He could hear gears, cogs and mechanisms whirring behind the walls, coming to a strong, deafening groan, and even shaking the room. Then it stopped.

Then the chaos broke loose.


End file.
